The Starbucks Milk Swap That Baristas Hate

It doesn't take much first-hand experience to know that workers at establishments with extensive customization options have their fair share of favorite and least favorite customer requests to fulfill. While this has led some to question if they should customize their order at fast food chains in the first place, likely the better option is to try to avoid customizations that employees are known to hate. This is unfortunate news for fans of Starbucks' vanilla sweet cream — a popular dairy replacement for milk in many drinks at the coffee chain that many baristas absolutely despise utilizing in this way.

We discussed why the special cream is so problematic for baristas at Starbucks with Bella Rickles, an NYU student and Starbucks barista who worked with Switch4Good to convince Starbucks to drop its non-dairy milk upcharge. Rickles explained that, while some may enjoy the taste of the vanilla sweet cream, it is a disaster as a replacement for milk in many Starbucks products. "Vanilla sweet cream is not a milk — it's a dessert base," Rickles reminded, "Swapping it into drinks throws off ratios, makes the drink overly heavy, requires extra measuring, and sometimes needs to be prepped on the spot."

So, if the misuse of vanilla sweet cream is among the many customizations that annoy baristas at Starbucks, what are some alternatives? Well, according to Bella Rickles, there is a pretty stellar way to emulate the vanilla sweet cream without infuriating your barista. "Add vanilla syrup or add brown sugar syrup, or ask for extra oat milk, which is naturally sweeter and creamier," Rickles suggested. "These options take just a few seconds, don't require new prep, and don't overload the drink, and result in causing massive tummy aches because your drink isn't swimming in dairy." Plus, if your beverage of choice is a Frappuccino, asking for it to be double-blended should give you the creamier taste you're looking for without needing to use the sweet cream.

This brings up another reason why vanilla sweet cream is a total no-go — its impact on your body. As a dessert base, the sweetened dairy packs a massive sugary and fatty punch that falls short in the texture department. " ... Most people don't realize how intense it is nutritionally," Rickles admitted, "When you swap milk for vanilla sweet cream, you're adding a lot of saturated fat from heavy cream, extra sugar (vanilla syrup + lactose), and hundreds of extra calories ... heavy cream is mostly fat, and it's meant for small amounts — not as a full milk replacement."